Nestor ‘Tong’ Padilla: Building a community

Rockwell Land Corporation opened yesterday its ramp on Edsa, which takes commuters coming from the south directly inside Rockwell Center. If you ask Rockwell Land president Nestor "Tong" Padilla, this is not just about his company spending P200 million on less than one kilometer of ramp.

And if you ask him if it’s good economics, he’ll tell you with a laugh (and a painful expression) that it’s not. Not P210 million. Not at this time. Not when Rockwell Land had its most difficult period last year. But, as it is, this project is already a scaled-down version of their grand plans. Back in the mid 1990s, they had a vision of the "Greater Rockwell," wherein bigger infrastructure projects like bridges across the Pasig River and connections to major road network were part of the plan.

"We are all visionaries at one point," says Padilla. "When the market is really good, everything seems to be justified. I remember that when I came home from Indonesia in 1995, my marketing guy told me, ‘Real estate prices in the Philippines never go down.’ Yeah, right. Two years later the industry was down."

So the vision of a Greater Rockwell has been pushed back but the hope that its neighboring communities across the river and in Makati would follow in Rockwell’s footsteps is still alive.

"We could have stopped the construction of the ramp but we had a bigger commitment to the community."

The ramp starts from Edsa and turns left on Estrella St. Why a one-way ramp, why not make another one from Estrella going to northbound Edsa? "The other plan was a T- ramp, but it would not have worked because the MRT line here (going north) is already above ground. We would have taken a minimum of one-and-a-half lanes on Edsa which is already too clogged up. Still, we had a very lucky coincidence because the MRT line is completely underground where we start; otherwise, we would have to buy houses on Estrella: P500 million for the houses and P200 million for the ramp. It’s ridiculous."

Padilla says this project benefits not only Rockwell Center residents who occupy its 850 apartments, but also everybody coming from the south (from Pasay, Alabang, etc.) and going west to Sta. Ana because it provides better access to the Makati-Mandaluyong bridge. "Now they don’t have to go through Ayala Avenue and then Makati Avenue, which are always busy roads." It also benefits Rockwell’s neighboring subdivisions and its day population of about 40,000 people – students of the Ateneo Professional Schools, employees of Phinma and Nestle, the latter of which has established its corporate headquarters there, people who work at and at the shops and the shoppers of Rockwell Power Plant Mall.

"Observe the traffic at 7 in the morning when the mall is still closed. There are more people just passing through Rockwell than going in. That was my justification for the first Starbucks, which didn’t want to open when the mall and condominiums were still under construction. I said, come let’s stand here in the morning and look at the cars passing. Don’t bother with people who are already late for work because they are not gonna stop for coffee. The people who are here at 7 are the guys who left their houses at 6 to avoid the rush hour, but now they’re too early for work. They’re the ones who are gonna stop to have coffee. In the afternoon, they also pass through here because they know they have an hour or more of traffic ahead of them."

Some years ago, Rockwell Land also spent P20 million on Kalayaan St. from the Rockwell gate to Makati Avenue. "That street used to flood all the time. Every time may bagyo, the asphalt would be damaged at lubak-lubak na. Now, there’s no flooding, maski ilang bagyo the roads are still intact. It’s just a matter of doing it right."

And you still wonder why government-built roads have to be repaired every year?

Doing it right and better is the philosophy of Tong Padilla. And it is possible because he was able to do it in Indonesia, where he worked for 12 years. Prior to Rockwell Center, Padilla was an investment banker for Lippo Bank and had helped build a new town in Indonesia.

A banker building a town? "It was by accident that I got into development," says Padilla, who had also worked for Ayala Investment before going abroad.

What happened was that one of Lippo Bank’s clients had overextended himself and Padilla was trying to work out a payment scheme. "It’s a typical story. People never learn," he says. "The bank felt that he had to concentrate on his core business which was textile. So we looked for a buyer for his property but couldn’t find the right one. Finally, he said, why don’t you guys partner with me? So I went to my boss, Mr. Riady, and asked him. He went with it and we built a new town."

The development was 500 hectares, 30 kilometers west of Jakarta. Aside from residential condominiums, it has a school, hotel, hospital, golf course, country club and office buildings.

Of the 15.5-hectare Rockwell Center, Padilla seems surprised that its image is high-end. "It wasn’t meant to be," he says. "I think that image comes from how Rockwell was started. We wanted it to be an inner city. When the late Geny Lopez asked me to join them in 1995, I told him I was happy in Indonesia and that it was pointless to talk until I had decided to come back home. So I went here for a vacation and I said, ‘Geny, let’s talk, I’m coming home.’ He said, ‘What made you decide to come home?’ I said, ‘Parking lot.’ I saw this development in Cebu and they were building it the same way as 15 years ago when I left this place. My point was, it is so easy to do something of a higher standard. That’s what we set out to do, whether it’s our landscaping, our fence, our street or our signage. We try very hard to create the ambience so you will not spit. So strong an ambience that you’ll be ashamed to litter in the streets. I wanted to have a higher standard, which doesn’t necessarily mean high-end."

Padilla continues, "We’re building a community. It cannot be just kayo-kayo, the same people all the time. It has to be a complete mix."

Which is why Nestor Padilla is thinking of putting a shuttle service to go around Rockwell and pick up passengers from the nearest public transportation points. "Life is hard enough for the saleslady at the mall to go down from her bus, take a tricycle to the gate and walk to the mall."

He also relishes the fun part of his job: getting the mix right for the Power Plant Mall. "Our mall is probably the smallest of all the malls. It’s like playing basketball, you know your competitors are six-footers and you’re a five-footer. You’d better not play under the goal. Supalpal ka palagi diyan. If you play from the three-point line, you’d do better."

When Rockwell was starting to be built, a hotel was in the master plan, right beside the mall. So they began excavation, but when the hospitality industry became soft, the construction was shelved. So now, right beside the mall and next to the underground parking levels is a large concrete "hole" that’s just waiting to be utilized.

Guess what he’s putting there.

Some weeks ago, Nestor Padilla and his team at Rockwell Land went to a team-building seminar in Antipolo. There he tested his idea: He asked his people to play paintball games with him (okay, so he forced some of them!).

At the end of the game, he had converted even the biggest doubters. Paintball games right in the city. Oh, the idea that you’d be able to point a gun and shoot at your officemates without going to jail! Or with your family members and friends. What could be more fun?

"You have to generate out-of-the-box thinking. If you just follow, you’ll never be able to make a difference."

One part of the hole where the future hotel would stand will be fitted with props for "urban warfare" games, the other side would have giant trampolines (with harness) and a rock-climbing wall.

Called the "Play Underground," the space is directly below the new development at the mall: this time two more bars fronting the plaza.

So why these alternative sports? "Wall climbing is a sport where the only thing worse than having to climb a wall is that nobody is watching you. There’s an element of showing off to it. Anytime they’re climbing up here, there are always people watching while having their coffee."

The plan is to for the sports to change periodically. One month could be paintball, the next obstacle courses, etc. The idea is that one goes to the mall not just to shop but to have fun, to sweat it out, to de-stress.

"I think I’ll love it here," Padilla says, grinning widely.

He could be planning infrastructure and building communities but nothing, it seems, could make a developer happier than a playground.